Green Anoles
Introduction Appearance Anolis Carolinensis (a.k.a., the Green or Carolina Anole), are usually a vibrant shade of green, but can become brownish depending on their mood or health. Stressed, unhappy, or ill green anoles will tend to look darker, while active, healthy, and happy green anoles will be bright green. Adult green anole's SVL ranges around 4" and their total length is usually double their SVL. Females can usually be distinguished by a white line running the length of their back, and males tend to be larger and have a reddish pink dewlap. They extend this dewlap to attract females and to ward off opposing males. Distribution and Behavior Green Anoles inhabit the eastern states of North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Texas, but was also introduced to Hawaii. These diurnal lizards are very active and territorial during the day. They also enjoy basking and often compete for the best basking spot. Care Habitat Green anoles are arboreal woodland/jungle reptiles, and need an enclosure that fits their tall life style. 10 gallons is sufficient for a single green anole, while 2 or 3 (either 2 females and 1 male or all females) can be kept in a 20-30 gallon enclosure. If you wish to house more than 1 male in an enclosure, be sure to provideat least 30 gallons for a pair or 40 for a trio. A cheap and easy method to provide arboreal space is to flip a traditional long tank on it's side and modify it's screen top to hold substrate (this can be done by gluing small sheet of glass or acrylic to the bottom part of the screen). Another, more expensive, option is to purchase a tall natural terrarium from Zoo-Med or Exo-terra. These enclosures are great for living terrariums and provide a lot of ventilation. After choosing what kind of enclosure you want, you must find what substrate to use. For a spartan and easy ro clean terrarium, you can use paper towels or terrarium carpet. Carpet can be washed weekly and paper towels can be replaced weekly. For a more natural set-up, one can use a variety of substrata. Coco-fiber, Eco-Earth, Jungle-Mix and mulch all work very well. If including plants in your setup, a 1 inch layer of drainage gravel or a false bottom need to be used. Furnishings for the enclosure should be artificial or real plants, branches, driftwood, and other climbing accesories. A hide needs to be provided unless heavy foliage is used to prevent stress. If more than 1 anole is being kept, provide an according number of hides. Lighting and Heating Green anoles, like all diurnal lizards, require a UVB/UVA light for their terrarium. These lights are needed too provide Vitamin D so that this lizard can synthesize calcium. These special lights can be put into a compact lamp that stretches the length of the terrarium. Most UVB/UVA lights are flourescent, and therefore provide no heat. Because of this, a basking light is also required. The heat in your green anoles cage should be 75-80 degrees, with a basking spot of 85-90 degrees. If multiple anoles are being housed, it is useful to provide more than 1 basking spot. Overall heat can be mantained through the use of under tank heaters. Multiple thermometers should be aquired and placed in the basking spot and the regular spot. Water and Humidity Green anoles do not readily drink out of water dishes, so they must be misted daily to provide drinking water. You may still provide a water dish to keep up the humidity but it must be shallow to prevent accidental drowning. Exo-terra and Zoo-Med have both created waterfalls that are very helpful to humidity, and also look nice. Another method to mantaining humidity is to place a sheet of glass or acrylic over the top of the enclosure so that it is partially covering the screen. This will help keep water in. A hygrometer should be purchased to monitor the total percentage of humidity. The humidity should stay around 65%. Feeding There is a variety of foods that green anoles will readily accept. Crickets should be used as a staple diet because of their low fat. 15 of them should be fed to your lizard a week, or 5 3 times a week to prevent stray crickets from stressing your lizard. Waxworms and waxmoths shoukd only be given once in a while because they are very fatty. Mealworms should not be given much at all because of their hard to digest shell. All food should be gutloaded and sprinkled with a calcium/vitamin supplement to keep your lizard healthy. Category:Anolis